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"Target" golf at 3,000 feet!
Dazzling views and warm thermals tee up year round play, thanks to Tom Jackson's
championship design at the Cliffs at Glassy, one of three residential golf communities nested into the Blue
Ridge Carolina Crescent region above Greenville.
Photo courtesy of Cliffs Communities |
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In Augusta's virtual backyard:
Sweetwater Road leads to a more pastoral country club life including horses and hounds. Historic
markers salute families who settled the 4,000-acre Mount Vintage Plantation centuries ago. Tom Jackson's
design and the carved "stack-stone" bridges fit the land. Living here is for those who enjoy
bright stars at night.
Photo courtesy of Mount Vintage |
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| Carolina Golf ~ Par Excellence |
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hen the Litchfield Company decided to build what is
regarded as the last golf course on Waccamaw Neck,
the area that comprises most of the South Strand
of South Carolina's coast, they knew they needed a golf
designer who knew how to build a minimum-impact golf course.
Their first choice was Greg Norman, who not only hits golf
balls but scores birdies and eagles in environmental golf
course design. The first thing Norman did was get the Winyah
Chapter of the Sierra Club involved.
Betty Bullock of the Sierra Club was
impressed with the care that was taken to bridge a couple of
wetlands with virtually no impact on the ecology of the area.
"We wanted the course
to blend in with the environment," Norman said. "It was a good
cooperative effort," said Jimmy Chandler of the South Carolina
Environmental Law Project.
"They even left some creature crossings for amphibians, snakes
and lizards," she said.
Norman, however, also wanted
to build a golf course that was challenging, yet golfer-friendly.
He joins a list of distinguished names - Jack Nicklaus,
Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Pete Dye, Tom Fazio and
Robert Trent Jones - who have their stamp of
originality on Carolinas golf courses.
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olf in the Carolinas is a great attraction to visitors
who plan their vacations around it, and an addiction to many
residents who plan their lives around it.
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Golf is a Carolina tradition
from the early 18th century when gentleman farmers whacked
the ball around in Scottish fashion. When Charles Fraser envisioned
resort development on Hilton Head Island, he also planned a golf
course in the Scottish links tradition and to start a PGA tournament
that would reflect that legacy. Harbour Town Golf Links and the annual April PGA event, the
WorldCom Classic -- The Heritage of Golf, fulfilled that dream.
The forefathers
who in 1786 established the South Carolina Golf Club, the oldest
existing golf organization in the country, would be astounded
at the golf scene here today. Carolina golf courses number
more than 750, and more people come to the Carolinas on
golf vacations than any other, according to Golf Digest.
The Grand Strand boasts more than 100 courses, perhaps the greatest
concentration of golf layouts anywhere. The 100th was the PGA
Tournament Players Championship course. Golf Digest has called
the Myrtle Beach area an affordable "Golf Heaven." Golfers must
agree, because more than four million rounds are played there
each year. Throw in the Outer Banks, Hilton Head Island,
Pinehurst-Southern Pines, Beaufort and the Charleston area,
and you've got a string of courses that would boggle the
mind of the most passionate player. Says PGA tour pro Jay
Haas of Greenville, South Carolina: "I've played golf all
over the world, but when I have a choice, this is where you'll
find me."
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Some of the
sport's best architects have laid out courses in the Carolinas.
Scotsman Donald Ross created those famous layouts around Pinehurst,
site of some memorable professional tournaments, and also turned his
handiwork to the Blue Ridge mountains. More than 30 courses dot the
Pinehurst-Southern Pines area. Dye, Nicklaus, Robert Trent Jones,
Tom Fazio and George Fazio, Gary Player, Rees Jones and Arthur Hills
are among the most distinguished designers to leave their courses here.
Links golf is also alive on Kiawah Island and the Outer Banks of North
Carolina.
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The PGA, LPAGA, PGA seniors and
Nike circuits all have stops in both Carolinas, where prestigious amateur
events likewise are staged. The Masters, perhaps the most difficult golf
ticket in the world, is played each spring. Just across the state line in
Augusta, its tradition has spread to the Carolinas with the WorldCom Classic
on Hilton Head Island and the Greater Greensboro Open, which follow the Masters
on the PGA schedule.
Other professional tournaments that previously held were the Seniors Tour
Championship in Myrtle Beach, the Seniors Vantage Championship at
Tanglewood in Clemmons, North Carolina, the Seniors World
Invitational at Piper Glen near Charlotte, and the LPGA City of
Hope Classic at Wachesaw East in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina.
Nike Tour stops are in Florence and Greenville in South Carolina
and Raleigh in North Carolina. In 1999, the U.S. Open was staged
in Pinehurst.
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The Bear, the Army and Hale
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All that attention from the professional circuits
accounts for a great deal of spectator interest, which is transferred
to recreational golf. Who wouldn't want to play on the Harbour Town course
designed by Pete Dye and Jack Nicklaus? Many of the greatest names of golf -
Nicklaus, Palmer, Trevino, Norman, Hale Irwin - have won on these storied
courses. Davis Love III, who designed a course on Fripp Island, won the
Heritage plaid jacket for the fourth time in 1998. Arnold Palmer won the
inaugural Heritage Classic in 1969. It was one of those blustery weekends
in November (before the tournament was moved to spring) and Palmer prevailed.
While Arnie's Army is famous, galleries have swarmed to all the champions,
including Norman, who flew a terminally ill boy from Wisconsin to watch his
hero accept the winner's trophy.
Since Hilton Head's Sea Pines
Ocean Course opened in 1961, the island has developed into a golfer's
haven, featuring some of the best layouts in the nation. True Blue
Golf Club, one of the newer courses on the South Strand, was hailed
by Golf Digest as one of the top five new public golf courses in the
country.
Speaking of heritage, the Palmetto in Aiken was first
designed by Herbert Leeds in 1892. The great golf architect Alister
Mackenzie came to Aiken after collaborating with Bobby Jones on Augusta
National. He redesigned Palmetto in the style of the home of the Masters,
with dogwoods, azaleas and towering pines.
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Residents love golf as much as visitors. Public and private
courses have been designed to complement every terrain: foothills, marshes,
ocean, mountain, valleys. The Upcountry features designs by Tom Jackson,
Rees Jones and Bob Culp.
In Columbia, where Hootie and the
Blowfish and Gamecocks head coach
Steve Spurrier tee it up, numerous
courses fit the contours of the sandhills and the shores of Lake Murray,
considered by some one of the largest water hazards in the world.
While golf has always been significant in the greening of America,
in the Carolinas the green adds up to a strong boost for the economy and
better management for the environment.
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Written by Gene Able
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